Railway-crossing signal



' Feb. 8,1927.

M CLELLAN A. KUHN ET AL RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL Filed April 11, 1925 I 8 I INVENTORS M Clell-cu A.KLLI :n and .Ggor e D. GebharL Patented Feb. 8, 1927.

MQCLELLAN A. 'KUHn, or 'PORTER ILLE,

' CALIFORNIA.

. nAILwaY-oRossInG SIGN L 1 I Application -fi1ed April 11], 1 925. serial'no. 22,332. i

this purpose .now employed are either located at one side of the highway 01' are at a The considerable height from the same. result is that many drivers, especially at night, fail tos'ee or take cognizance of the signal, and this failure is a'frequent cause of accidents. r

Sometimes a crossing warning or notice is painted in large \letters on the highway itself, but this :is not a warning signal in the true-sense of the word, since there is nothing movable to indicate the approach .of-a train.

therefore is to provide a signal device mounted in the middle of the highway a certain distance on one side of the railway which, while normally out of sight below sume such a position that any driver, if he is paying any attention 'atiallito his driving, cannot but help see'the'signaluwhen raised and is of such size as .to be readily visible both by night and'day. In addition we have arranged a siren or other audible signal'ato be sounded as longfasthe visible signal is raised.

Oursignal is preferablyiactuated by a train in connection Wltllff/he system shown infour co-pending' application for patent on railway-crossing signal actuating means, Serial No. 688,701, filed January 26th,.192et;

,VVith this system the signal ceases to be ac-v tuated as soon as the train actually reaches the crossing. The signal actuating circuits however as at presentinstalled on railways may be used for actuating our signal .so

desired.

The signal is not intended toact as a rigid 'barrier'ito bar the passage of traflic on .--the roads, but new be located so that traflic can pass to either side of thesame.

' Thesignal--automatically drops as soon as a "train has passed, but in the event that a car driverxshould accidentally head his vehicle "straight for the signal 1 when .the -.latter 1 When the vehicle has-passed the will be again automatically raised if the The principal object of our invention.

cylinder .is' mounted at-the bottom of a 8 dug in the center of the roadway;

avoid'passing over the. plane of the signal; I

signal train is not yet out of the block in-which tliefcontrolling circuits are located. a I

When the signal is lowered a car can run over-the same without damage, although this "should be avoided if possible, and would not be'done by the average driver,=since the signal apparatus as a whole is raised somewhat such structure and relative arrangement of paritsvas'will fully appear by a: perusal of the" following specificationland claims.

f s In the drawings similar "characters of-refere I ce indicate corresponding parts in the several views: the road, will upon the approach of a train 7 automatically rise :from the ground and as Figs-,1 'is a sectionalielevation of the-signa-l' apparatus showingthe "signal in its .ra'is'edpr operative position. I :2vi's a similar view but with the signallowered. The signal is automatically illuminated through-the -fiuid containing cylinder.

Referring now more particularly" tow'the Fig.8 is a cross section of the device taken characiersof reference on the drawings, the

numeral 1 denotes a pair of signal members of suitable height and width, preferably Ann ,enorten 1 eneirenr, or E LEY,

is :held raised by the closing of the actuat- -ing circuit, we have provided a safety trip actuated by such vehicle which will cause the signal 'to b e quickly and temporarily dropped so .thatiit will not'be wrecked ifthe car is not stopped in time to The members l' are supported by a single pistonlrod 'orzstem 5 havingon its'lower end a' piston .16 slidable in'a cylinder "7; This pit Rigidcover plates 9 extend fromfthe op- .posite endsof .the pitat the-level of the rod wltha slight upward slope toward 'the'signal un t, terminating closely against :the :niemhers 1 adjacent thelower ends thereof when the latter are fully raised. Side plates 10 which support the plates 9 project up from the road level at the same slope as the plates, the signal unit having a running fit therebetween.

The cylinder is of such a length that the stem 5 can move down from its upward limit a sufiicient distance to cause-the upper end or apex of the signal unit to lie in a horizontal plane about flush with the adjacent ends of the plates 9. A flap or hood 11 preferably of leather, rubber or the like is secured to the signal unit across the top thereof so as to overlap the ends of the plates 9 and adjacent portions of the plates 10 when the signal unit is lowered.

, .Thus the opening into the pit otherwise left openis covered and rainand dirt are preyented' from entering the pit.

Located in the pit is a tank 12 fora fluid, preferably oil. To pump the. oil fromthe tanlr'intoythe cylinder we provide a centrifugal "pump'13 of ordinary character driven by: an electric motor 14, the current for which is supplied by va battery 15. .The circuit wires 16 for the motor and battery lead I, from the pit to the railway, the circuit-being closed by the passage of a train over that section of track to which the wires arecon- "nected, as shown in the above mentioned copending application, or as is commonly done in connection with the actuation of present day signals. 7

The intake pipe 17 of the pump connects a with the tank '12 atthe bottom thereof and the dischargepipe- 18 leads to the bottom of the cylinder 7.

cylinder. I Since the motor will operate continuously as long asthe train is on the length of track constituting the signal. block, which is liable to be for different periods, whereas'the raising of the signal consumes a fixed period of time, means must be provided to relieve the strain on the motor and other parts when the signal is raised to its full extent and the motor continues to operate.

Thi'smeans comprises a port 19 in 'the cylinder just under the piston 6 when the latter is at the top of its stroke. a pipe 20 connected to said port leading b ack to the tank. The area of the port is suchthat suilicient pressure is retained'in the cylinder to hold the signal raised as long as the pump is op erating.

When the motor stops with the breaking i of the track circuit the weight of'the signal unit will cause the latter to displace the oil from the cylinder, saidoil flowing back to the tank through the pump and thus allowing .the signal to drop gradually and without jar. 4

- To provide for a rapid drop of the signal The bottom of the'tank'12 is preferably lower than the bottom of the certain distance beyond and in longitudinal 7 alinement with the signal apparatus and on both sides of the same. These aprons extend to and overlap thecover plates 9 a certain distance inspaced relation thereto.

Leading from thecylinder at the bottom to the tank is a large outlet passage 23 in which is interposed a normally :closed valve 24 of suitable character. This valve is held closed with a pressure greater vthan that of the oil in the cylinder 'at any time by spring means 25 acting on an arm 26 connectedto the axis of the valve.

Slidably mounted in the plates 9 are pins 27 bearing at their upper ends against the under faces of the aprons 21. The lower ends ofethe pins engage one end of levers 28 pivoted under the plates 9, the other ends of said; levers beingconnected with the valve arm 26 by means of flexible members such as wires29. I I v p is These connecting mechanisms are so arranged that when the valve is closed the pins 27 are forced up to hold the aprons 21 clearof the plates 9; Also a depression of either apron, which causes the arm 26 to be turned to open the-valve, does not impartany movement to the other apron.

t will therefore be seen thatif any wheel of a car runs onto either-of the aprons the valve 26 will be instantlyopened, causing the sudden release of oil from the cylinder and a consequent rapiddrop of the signal unit.

The length of the aprons is preferably such that thesignal will have timeto drop before the wheels reach the plane of the sig- 'nal units so that the latter will not be damsent a normally raised appearance no Inatter if the signal is lowered, and the provi- S1011 of mark or guide lines on the road both Ways from the signahyas well as the central location of the apparatus in the road, will tend to prevent any driver from running onto the apparatus. 1

The signal unit is illuminated by night and day by electric lights 30 placed in any" suitable location behind the members 1 so as to shine through the letters 2, said lights being lit whenever the motor closed.

' An electric warning signal or siren 31 is also mounted in the-pit, the circuit to the same being likewise closed upon the closing circuit is the case. a

It will be noted that all the oil pumped into the cylinder is returned to the tank, no matter which outlet from. the cylinder may be utilized. 4 7-.

None of the oil is Wastedtherefore and a tank initially filled should last indefinitely if ordinary care in packing the moving parts is takein A pair of these signal devices actuated in common would be placed on the road for each crossing, one on each side of said.cross ing a certain distance therefrom.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that we have produced sucha device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein. \Vhile this specification sets forth'in detail the presentand preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to asdo not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: V

1. A road signal levice for railway crossings comprising a signal member normally depressed in the road, driven means for raising the signal above theroad, means for causing the signal to normally remaln'raised as long as said means is being driven, and

means actuated by a vehicle approaching on the road to within a predetermined distance of the signal, and in alinement therewith, for causing a sudden dropping of the signal to take place regardless of the operation of the driven means. i

2. A road signal device for railway crossings comprising a signal member normally depressed in the road, a vertical cylinder below the signal, a piston therein, a stem between the piston and'signal, afiuid-containing tank, and a pump to force oil from the tank to the cylinderbelow the piston therein, means for drivingfthe pump, the signal normal-1y remaining raised as long as the pump'is in operation, and means actoated by a vehicle approaching on the road to within a predetermined distance of and (ill .in alinement with the signal for permitting a sudden flow of the fluid from the cylinder co-take place regardless of the operation of the pump.

3. A road signal device for railway cross ings comprising a signal member normally depressed in the road, a vertical cylinder below the signal, a piston thereinQa stem between the piston and signal, means for forcing a. fluid into the cylinder. tov raise the piston and signal, the latter normally remaining raised as long as said means is in operation, an enlarged outlet from the cylinder near its bottom, a valve in said outlet, means for holding said valve normally closed, and means actuated by a vehicle approaching to within a certain distance of and in alinement with the signal for opening the valve whereby the fluidwill rapidly escape and allow the signal to drop.

4. A road signal device for railway crossings comprising a'signal member normally depressed in the road, a vertical cylinder below the signal, a piston therein, a stem between the piston and signal, means for .forcing'a fluid into the cylinder to raise the piston and signal,*the latternormally remaining raised as long as said means is in operation,'an enlarged outlet from the 'cylinder near its bottom, a valve in said outlet, means normally holding the valve closed against a predetermined pressure, anapron mounted'in longitudinal alinement with the signalv beyond the same, andadapted to receive avehicle wheel thereon, the end of the apron adjacent the signal being-normally vvheld raised, and connecting means betweenthe apron and valve whereby the latter is opened when a suitable pressure is placed on the apron.

5. A road signal device for railroad crossings comprising a signal member normally depressed-1n the road, fluid operated means for raising the signal,'such means including a a cylinder to contain a fluid and a piston therein operatively connected to "the. signal tolcause the same to be raised when fluid is in'the cylinder; means holding thesignal raised as long as the raising means-is in operation, a normally'closed outletfrom the cylinder, and means actuated by a vehicle --approach ing to within a certain distance of the signal for opening said outlet. I

6. A road'slgnal device for railway crossings compr smg a signal member, driven Inc I means for operating the signal, means caus- I ing the signal to remain in operation as long as said means is being driven, means causing the s gnal to be inoperative when the operation of the driven means is chs'continned, and additional means actuated by a vehicle approaching on the road to within a predetermined distance of the signal for causing the'signal to be rendered inoperative regardless of the operation of the driven means. i

tures. v

'- 'MGCLELLAN A. KUHN.

GEORGE D. GEBHART.

In testimony whereof'we afli'x our signa- 

